5 People You Will See at a Baseball Game

People-watching is one of my favorite activities, and sporting events are prime territory for observing my fellow human beings. I recently attended a Missoula Osprey game, where the crowd provided just as much — if not more — entertainment than the game itself. Here is a run-down of five classic baseball crowd characters:

1. The heckler – The occasional “boo” is pretty typical of any sports crowd, but this guy takes taunting to a whole new level. There’s nothing funnier than listening to a full-grown man yell, at the top of his lungs, “We want a pitcher, not a belly-itcher!”

2. The sports-illiterate girlfriend – I will readily admit that I fall into this category. Baseball isn’t really my thing, and when it comes to obscure rules and vocabulary, I’m totally in the dark. But, I didn’t feel so bad about having to ask my date what a “balk” is after I heard the guy behind me explaining the same term to his lady friend.

3. The guy who keeps his own stats – This guy is serious about baseball. So serious, in fact, that he doesn’t trust anyone else’s knowledge above his own. Or, perhaps, he just likes having something to keep himself busy while he sips on a frosty brew.

4. The really, really loud kid – I have to hand it to this kid’s parents — bringing him to a place where he can expend all of that pent-up energy and enthusiasm was a smart idea, and his excitement was kind of contagious. But by the end of the Peanuts Inning, I was kind of glad that his voice was starting to go hoarse.

5. The superfan – You can tell that this person never misses a game. Ever. They know the name of every single player, and they are dressed in head-to-toe Osprey gear, right down to their shoelaces.

Brooke is a 2010 graduate of The University of Montana, where she ran track and cross country for the Grizzlies. She is currently working as a writer and editor in Missoula.